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Topic: American Bee Journal Article (Read 2684 times)

Has anyone else read the article in the July issue of the American Bee Journal on requeening?The woman who wrote it advises beeks to cut all queen cells "demolish every single one"(in her words) when they see them and requeen with a purchased mated queen.She states that queens made with regular old worker eggs "may be less queenlike" (again her words), which is why most beekeepers do not allow emergency cells to become queens".She says if they started out down the pathway to becoming worker bees and then are switched down the pathway to becoming a queen bee they are not as good.I have heard that you should let them do their thing with supercedure cells but haven't given alot of thought to the emergency cells, although again I guess I would have just let them do their thing if I didn't already have a mated queen available.Any thoughts on the concept of this article?

this has not been my experience. in fact, i have had more acceptance problems with purchased queens. that's why i don't buy queens anymore unless, like yesterday, i experience a moment of weakness. :-D

i believe it was an ABJ article several years ago, that put requeening success at around 50%. that's not so good considering the cost of queens.

my experience may not be typical. there are lots of resources here for good mating, etc.

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Has anyone else read the article in the July issue of the American Bee Journal on requeening?The woman who wrote it advises beeks to cut all queen cells "demolish every single one"(in her words) when they see them and requeen with a purchased mated queen.

its true, if not you end up losing the bought queen in less than a month in most cases and end up with a emergency queen which might be ok (most are replace soon after and your hive ends up going another month without a good queen) but not as good as the queen you bought most times. why spend money on a queen if you not going to let her lead the hive.

She states that queens made with regular old worker eggs "may be less queenlike" (again her words), which is why most beekeepers do not allow emergency cells to become queens".She says if they started out down the pathway to becoming worker bees and then are switched down the pathway to becoming a queen bee they are not as good.I have heard that you should let them do their thing with supercedure cells but haven't given alot of thought to the emergency cells, although again I guess I would have just let them do their thing if I didn't already have a mated queen available.Any thoughts on the concept of this article?

swarm and supercedure cells are planned and most of the times are good queens, emergency queens can do ok during flows but odds are emergency queens aren't as good of queens and can be replaced in a short time, now I have seen some emergency queens be real good queens and last for a few years but it's a chance you take when dealing with emergency queens. I don't care for a swarm or supercedure queen when they are not raised during a flow but will give them the chance to prove themselves but I wouldn't care for emergency queen during a dearth, a good grafted, queen is what I like most that's why I raise my own ;)

« Last Edit: June 24, 2009, 08:42:37 PM by TwT »

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She states that queens made with regular old worker eggs "may be less queenlike." She says if they started out down the pathway to becoming worker bees and then are switched down the pathway to becoming a queen bee they are not as good.

From what I understand though, there is no difference between a worker egg and a queen egg. It's what the nurse bees do for them as soon as they hatch that makes them into what they will become. Someone please correct me if this is incorrect.

What she is saying is that since its an emergency queen cell and not a planned supercedure that the bees may have been forced to use an older larva. It may have meant to be a worker but then was turned into a queen in a pinch.A planned queen such as a supercedure would have been getting the royal treatment from day one, being fed with royal jelly from the get go, where a worker would not have been. In an emergency a worker would be converted over but may not be the perfect age to do so.

I understand your point, but she seems to clearly state that the worker eggs may be less queenlike.

Also, to purchase a mated queen and get it shipped to you can cost close to $50. That's a lot of money. I think that you have to be willing to let the bees do what they think is best. I think it would be great to requeen if you have a mated readily available, but it would be a shame to spend the money and get the queen and then find out that they don't like her either, and start building cells again.

If nothing else I think you should do something with the cells. Make a nuc or something, but don't just cut them out and get rid of them.

I know what you are saying, I don't cut out my queen cells either and I don't really agree with her point of veiw but was wondering what the concensus was.I know Michael Bush, Iddee and Brian(I am sure there are others) always advise against cutting out queen cells.

If the bees select an older larvae or an older larvae is transferrred to a cell cup by the grafting you get what is called in the trade a mesomorph.BTW: You have to have a fertilized egg that hatches and becomes a larvae before it's useful to the hive for queen rearing.Regards,Ernie